From New Statesman, the Labour Party lost four million voters in England between 1997 and 2010 — to win them back, it needs to reconnect with old core values that now seem strangely conservative; memo to Blue Labourites: Tone down the nostalgia — there was no golden age and the party must not idealise the working class; a review of The Coalition and the Constitution by Vernon Bogdanor; an interview with Nick Clegg about life on the far side of power and what it’s like to be a cut-out; an interview with Antonia Fraser: "The preoccupation with class is the bad side of Englishness"; and a review of Reprobates: the Cavaliers of the English Civil War by John Stubbs. From LRB, Richard J. Evans on the wonderfulness of us (the Tory interpretation of history). What can the Norman Conquest teach us about regime change? The disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion has long baffled historians, but could a brutal ambush have been the event that forged the England-Scotland border. Far from being irrelevant, because of its size, Scotland could become central thanks to a new approach to history, explains Tom Devine. Gerry Hassan on Scotland’s future story of hope: How we defeat the forces of pessimism; and on how Scotland may not have a left anymore but it must still challenge the new vandals and miserabilists. Tommy Sheridan to the Sun: Is anyone not backing the SNP? It remains to be seen whether Prince William will inherit his grandmother’s skill in navigating the changing politics of Union. Pat Kane on why the Big Society should be a playground (but isn't); and on a creative Scotland and a cultural Scotland: A chapter from Radical Scotland: Arguments for Self-Determination The Almost Nation: Wales is having an identity crisis — actually, it’s been having one off and on for the past 2,000 years. The Emergence of One Wales: Leanne Wood examines the campaign for a Yes vote in the Welsh referendum and the eventual result and sees old divisions beginning to recede.
